2Pour 1 can of the enchilada sauce into baking dish. Break taco shells from kit in half; layer half of the shells over sauce, overlapping if necessary. Top with turkey, onions and 1 cup of the cheese. Layer remaining shells over cheese. Pour remaining can of enchilada sauce over shells, coating well.

3Cover dish with foil. Bake about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Remove foil; sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheese over top. Bake uncovered about 15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Top individual servings with lettuce, sour cream and taco sauce from kit.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

We made this recipe tonight and it was so yummy and flavorful! We used chicken thigh meat instead of breasts; we find it doesn't dry out as much as white meat and we added steamed broccoli when we added the chicken into the sauce. It did not turn out too spicy at all just very sweet with a little taste of spice.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and we loved it. My boys renamed it Thai tacos and said we should have it more often than regular tacos.I have included the recipe and the link back to it and some changes I made to suit our family.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

1 1/2 poundsground chicken

1red bell pepper, cut into large dice

1/2 cupsoy sauce

2 tablespoonsrice wine vinegar, or more to taste

1 tablespoongrated fresh ginger

5 dasheshot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco®)

1 teaspoonAsian (toasted) sesame oil

1/2 cupchunky peanut butter

3 tablespoonshot water

3 tablespoonssoy sauce

5 dasheshot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco®)

6large leaves of iceberg lettuce

2carrots, shredded

1 tablespoonchopped green onion, or to taste

1 tablespoonchopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Cook and stir ground chicken in a large skillet until the meat is crumbly and no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Drain excess grease. Stir red bell pepper into chicken; cook and stir until pepper is slightly softened, about 5 more minutes.

Mash peanut butter with hot water in a small bowl until smooth; stir 3 tablespoons soy sauce and 5 dashes hot pepper sauce into the mixture. Set dipping sauce aside.

Form lettuce leaves into cup shapes and fill with chicken mixture. Top lettuce wraps with shredded carrots, sprinkle with green onion and cilantro, and a spoonful of peanut dipping sauce.

I made a few changes; I used smooth peanut butter not crunchy and not as much as the recipe called for and diluted it out more to make it real smooth. Also, I used Siracha for the hot sauce and lots more cilantro for topping. (but our family really likes cilantro) I also added some minced garlic when I added the grated ginger. Also, the recipe calls for 6 large lettuce leaves but I found a head of iceberg gives you many more lettuce "wraps" than 6 and the filling goes a long way. I served the wraps with Jasmine rice and edamame.

We have been receiving a weekly produce delivery and have been trying out new recipes to use all the fruits and vegetables. Here are two new recipes that we used last week; that were wonderful. The Braised Mustard Greens were awesome even my boys were saying, "I love mustard greens!" (mustard greens can be bitter if not cooked correctly and this recipe does not have any bitter taste just wonderful flavor). The soup is a wonderfully rich winter soup that uses so many vegetables.

Hoppin' John Soup With Rice

Ingredients

3 tablespoons vegetable or extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), divided

1 1/2 cups rice

1 quart plus 3 cups chicken stock, divided

1 package (4 links) andouille sausage, casings removed and diced

5 ribs celery, chopped

2 green bell pepper, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 fresh bay leaf

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

Hot sauce, to taste

1 pound frozen black-eyed peas

1 28-ounce can stewed tomatoes

Preparation

Place a medium-size saucepot over high heat with 1 turn of the pan of EVOO, about 1 tablespoon. Add rice and stir to coat in the oil. Add 3 cups of the chicken stock and bring up to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium, place a tight-fitting lid on the pot and cook the rice until tender, about 18 minutes.

Once the rice is cooking, place a large soup pot over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO. Add the andouille and cook until brown and crispy, about 4-5 minutes. Add the celery, green bell pepper, onion, bay leaf, sweet potato and hot sauce to taste. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring every now and then, until onions start to get tender. Add black-eyed peas, stewed tomatoes and remaining quart of chicken stock. Turn the heat up to high and bring up to a bubble. Once bubbling, lower heat down to medium and simmer for 10 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are tender.

To serve, place a large scoop of rice in a soup bowl and add enough Hoppin' John to almost cover the rice. Give it a stir to combine. By cooking the rice separately, you never run the risk of the rice getting mushy on you and it will be waiting for you whenever you are ready to eat!

Braised Mustard Greens

Ingredients

4 slices bacon, chopped

3 bunches mustard greens, trimmed and chopped

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

Coarse salt

2 cups chicken broth

Directions

In a large skillet over medium high heat brown bacon and render its fat. Add chopped greens to the pan in batches and turn until they wilt, then add more greens. When all of the greens are in the pan, add vinegar and cook a minute. Season greens with sugar and salt. Add chicken broth to the pan and cover. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer greens 15 to 20 minutes then serve.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

For 2 Saturdays now, my sons have looked anxiously out our front door windows for.... PRODUCE!We started getting a weekly produce delivery from a local company called Red Tractor Produce and it has been great for our family to try new fruits and veggies and new recipes. They send out a weekly email with the items available that week with a short survey for you to decide which fruits and vegetables you would like included in your box. They have a $20 or a $30 box that they put together according to your preferences. So far, we have been impressed with the quality of all the items we have received. Here are some pictures of the boxes we have received so far and the link to their website.